Doc: Where would Reds be without Ryan Ludwick?

He's proof the smartest signings aren't always the sexiest

Aug. 20, 2012

Give Walt Jocketty and his scouts credit for some of it. They’ve made the big deals -- Mat Latos, Scott Rolen – but the lesser ones have been just as important. It’s not an accident that Ryan Ludwick calls the Reds clubhouse atmosphere “the best I’ve seen.’’ / The Enquirer/Jeff Swinger

When Walt Jocketty signed Ryan Ludwick last winter, there wasn’t a passive eye in the place. They all rolled. There goes Walt, signing another ex-Cardinal.

Ludwick had just completed a lost season in San Diego and Pittsburgh. In the last three months of the year, he hit three homers. He was 33 years old, not an age kind to revivals. A right-handed hitter, Ludwick would platoon with Chris Heisey, another right-handed hitter. Brilliant.

The best trades aren’t always the sexiest. The smartest signings aren’t the ones that get your fantasy blood jumping. They can just as easily be the deals you find in the Transactions corner of Page 3 of the paper, in tiny type.

Reds sign Miguel Cairo.

Reds sign Jose Arredondo.

Reds acquire Alfredo Simon.

Reds sign Ryan Ludwick.

Where would the Reds be without Ryan Ludwick?

Ludwick wasn’t a bad player in 2011. He was a good player, who had a bad year. Not even bad. Ludwick did have 75 RBI last season. Jocketty saw the year for what it was: A mental mess, caused by Petco Park, in San Diego. If Great American Small Park is Christmas for hitters, Petco is Christmas with Dante.

Jocketty met with Ludwick after the season.

“I knew him, obviously,’’ Jocketty recalls. “His desire, his work ethic. He really wanted to play here. He had a desire to show he was not done, that last year was kind of a fluke. I know him well enough to know he wasn’t BS-ing.’’

Baseball isn’t a physical trial. It is a mental Everest. You don’t get concussed playing baseball. At least not physically.

Ludwick spent all last summer wondering if he could still hit a baseball. He’s an analytical guy, and a perfectionist, the sort of combination that could drive you nuts if hitting is your job. When you’re hitting well, you want to know how you can hit better. When you’re not hitting well, you study hairline cracks in hotel room ceilings at 3 in the morning.

Ludwick studied lots of ceilings. “You know how mental this game is,’’ he says. “That’s where I went wrong. I got mentally bogged down.’’

Petco got into his head like a weevil in cotton. Can a ballpark cause amnesia? Make you forget who you are?

“I stunk it up. I was terrible,’’ Ludwick suggests. “It killed me. Ever seen a puppy that’s been abused? I didn’t feel abused. But you have to build that puppy’s character back up. I thought I was capable. But I didn’t know.’’

Well, yes, then. A ballpark can cause amnesia.

Ludwick forgot how to hit a ball to rightfield. He wanted so much to provide the power the Padres sought from him, he tried to pull everything. By the time he got to Pittsburgh, Pirates coaches were throwing to him underhanded in batting practice, hoping Ludwick would find his stroke. He still pulled everything.

Jocketty did wonder about Ludwick. He wondered still in June, when Ludwick had 27 RBI by June 13, but was hitting .201. Ludwick pressed a little, didn’t play enough to find a groove. He wondered some, as well. But he liked the way he was swinging, and he had hitting coach Brook Jacoby in his ear daily since March, telling him he could still hit.

“Trick yourself,’’ Jacoby told him, over and over. The phrase had all kinds of meanings for Ludwick. Your shoulder aches? No, it doesn’t. Your swing isn’t perfect? Yes, it is. “It was never mechanics for me,’’ says Ludwick. “It was thought process.’’

There was no magic moment when Ludwick escaped his personal hitting amnesia. Baseball isn’t a sport that lends itself to singular breakthroughs. You grind and you grind, and the little wins build.

Since Joey Votto went on the disabled list, Ludwick has 10 homers, 10 doubles and 30 RBI, in 29 games. He’s hitting .347. The Reds might not have the best team in the league. They are the best Team, if you get the drift. Every club talks about 25 players working as one. That doesn’t happen a lot. It has here, in this pleasant summer of 2012. Joey Votto goes down, and things get. . . better.

Ludwick is at the center of the Better. “Being happy has a lot to do with it,’’ he says. “This is where I wanted to be. When your heart and mind are in the right place, it makes it a little easier to play. I found my confidence again.’’

Give Jocketty and his scouts credit for some of it. They’ve made the big deals -- Mat Latos, Scott Rolen – but the lesser ones have been just as important. It’s not an accident that Ludwick calls the Reds clubhouse atmosphere “the best I’ve seen.’’

“You’ve got to have stars,’’ Jocketty says. “You’ve also got to have complementary players that fit.’’

Ludwick is no longer the complementary player he was when Jocketty signed him. He fits, though. That’s made all the difference.